In May's PrizeFighter newsletter I talked about how I had made a series of choices that wrecked several friendships. Many readers replied with words of encouragement and expressed how they had been touched by my confession.

Conversations about all these events ran rampant among friends, associates and fellow church members. In social situations I sometimes met with distant stares, whispers, awkward silence and averted eyes. Yet virtually no one approached us to voice their concern or hear the full story.

Now, just four months later, I'm very pleased to report that, by God's grace, all of those broken friendships have now been redeemed and strengthened. The funny - and sad - part is that the news of this minor miracle will not travel nearly as far or as quickly as the negative gossip that went before it.